As we present this inaugural edition of FNVA’s journal Trans-Himalaya, we take pride in offering this bouquet of articles carefully curated from distinguished practitioners and scholars.

While the Trans-Himalayan region essentially includes the territory from Karakoram, Ladakh, Zanskar and Kailash ranges, given the similarities in history, mountainous geography, ecosystems, culture, religion, way of lives, “under-development” and others, many other contiguous areas can be included. However, for this inaugural issue, we focused on Tibet for several reasons.

The idea of publishing a journal devoted to Tibet and the wider Himalayan region arose from a simple observation. Although the region has received increasing strategic attention, scholarship on it remains dispersed across different disciplines and institutions. Tibet, in particular, is studied through separate lenses of history, religion, security, environment and international relations, with relatively little effort to examine how these subjects intersect.

Trans Himalaya has been conceived to contribute to this gap. It seeks to bring together scholarship from different disciplines and perspectives and to place contemporary developments within their wider historical and strategic context. Over the years, research on Tibet in India has remained similarly dispersed. We hope the journal will encourage new scholarship, provide space for younger researchers and contribute to a stronger academic and policy community concerned with Tibet and the Himalayan region. It is therefore appropriate that the inaugural issue is devoted to Tibet.

Tibet today is also at cross-roads. For millennia, Tibet was influenced by its monastic life style with the successive Dalai Lamas acting as the spiritual and temporal head. However, China’s invasion into Tibet in 1950 brought structural changes to the region with its new political ideology of socialism and Communist-Party cadres, military expansion, infrastructure and in general the predominant focus on materialism. The flight of the 14th Dalai Lama to India in 1959, after expressing his displeasure on the implementation of 17-point commitments by China since 1951, had shifted regional and global attention to the Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamshala. While China continues to rule Tibet with more vigour today with its plans to “Sinicize” Tibetan Buddhism, pouring in huge human, financial and technical resources, its hold remains tentative as witnessed by a number of protests inside Tibet. Despite an effort for reconciliation as reflected in the Dalai Lama’s Strasbourg Proposals, nine talks between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the “United Front Work Department” of China’s People’s Political Consultative Committee, the progress in such efforts is negligible.

For India, Tibet is not simply a region beyond the Himalayas. The two have been connected for centuries through Buddhism, trade, scholarship and pilgrimage. Today, developments in Tibet have direct implications for India’s security environment, border management, water resources, ecology and relations with China. A serious understanding of the Himalayan region therefore requires sustained attention to developments on the Tibetan Plateau.

The contributions in this volume reflect this wider approach. They examine historical questions as well as contemporary developments within Tibet, India’s evolving approach, Buddhism, regional perspectives and the changing geopolitical environment. Taken together, they underline that Tibet cannot be understood only as a historical question or as a bilateral issue between India and China. Its significance extends to a number of political, strategic, environmental and cultural questions across Asia.

One of the distinguishing features of Trans Himalaya will be its use of primary sources. Understanding contemporary Tibet requires engagement with Chinese-language scholarship, official documents, laws, policy papers and debates within Chinese academic and policy circles. Such material helps us understand how the Chinese leadership views Tibet, the objectives of its policies and the institutions through which they are implemented. These sources, however, need to be examined critically and alongside other evidence. Studying official Chinese positions is not an endorsement of them; it is necessary for understanding them.

The journal also seeks to contribute to a stronger Indian discourse on Tibet and the Himalayan region. India’s understanding of Tibet cannot remain episodic. It requires sustained research, informed public debate and greater institutional attention. We hope this journal will make a modest contribution in that direction.

An important objective is to bring research and policy discussion closer together. Each issue will therefore include a section offering policy recommendations arising from the subjects examined in the volume. These are not intended to prescribe a particular course of action, but to place considered options before the Government of India, the Central Tibetan Administration and others concerned with Tibet and the Himalayan region.

The journal will also look beyond immediate developments. Every issue will carry an article examining longer-term trends, possible scenarios and the choices they may present. No assessment of the future can be certain, but policy analysis must take account of developments that may emerge over the longer term. This recurring feature is intended to encourage such strategic thinking.

We have also included a Reference Guide and a range of maps, timelines, photographs, institutional information and other material. These are intended to provide context to the essays and make the journal useful not only to specialists but also to students, researchers, policymakers and readers approaching the subject for the first time.

While Tibet is the subject of this inaugural issue, the scope of Trans Himalaya is wider. Future issues will examine other parts of Asia’s uplands, including Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Mongolia, as well as subjects such as Buddhism, borderlands, environmental change, infrastructure, technology and regional security. The Himalayas are undergoing considerable political, economic and strategic change. The journal will seek to examine these developments through scholarship as well as policy analysis.

This first issue would not have been possible without the support of many people. I am deeply grateful to Ambassador Shyam Saran for contributing the Foreword and for placing Tibet within the wider context of India’s strategic and civilisational interests.

I am equally grateful to all the contributors who supported the journal when it was still little more than an idea. Their scholarship and willingness to participate have made this inaugural issue possible.

My colleagues at the Foundation for Non-violent Alternatives have worked over many months to bring the project to fruition. I am grateful to the members of the Governing Council for their advice and encouragement. I also wish to acknowledge Ms Deepika Chadha for her careful language editing and Priyanka Kakra Vutts, Sunil Sud and Academic Foundation for bringing out this volume. Finally, I acknowledge with gratitude the donor whose confidence in the project made this first issue possible.

The value of a journal is ultimately determined by the quality of the scholarship it publishes and the discussion it generates. We hope Trans Himalaya will contribute to a better understanding of Tibet and the wider Himalayan region, encourage sustained research and, where possible, contribute to better-informed policy discussion.